If you’ve ever wondered what the difference is between a pediatric dentist and a general dentist,

Here’s your answer.

A dentist is a doctor of oral health. Generally, three or more years of undergraduate education plus four years of dental school is required to graduate and become a general dentist. Pediatric dentists are the pediatricians of dentistry. A pediatric dentist has two to three years of specialty training following dental school and limits his/her practice to treating children only. Pediatric dentists are primary and specialty oral care providers for infants and children through adolescence, including those with special health needs.

In the United States, pediatric dentists complete a minimum of a two-year full-time intensive residency training in all phases of pediatric dental medicine and surgery. Their training includes treatment of medically compromised children, treatment of children under sedation and anesthesia, management of growth and development issues related to the mouth, head and face.

Perhaps most importantly, pediatric dental specialists are uniquely trained to manage both the necessary preventive and invasive dental treatment of a child in the least traumatic and most child-sensitive and friendly way. They are the most highly trained dental professionals in prevention and advocate for active preventive measures for infants starting with the eruption of the first teeth before the first birthday. Hence pediatric dentists are the best-trained clinicians to help prevent oral disease, morbidity and most importantly caries (cavities) in children. When it comes to treating active dental disease, caries and tooth decay, they are far more likely to provide definitive, comprehensive and atraumatic treatment of dental disease in children.

In the case of adolescents, unlike adolescent medicine, a sub-specialty of pediatric medicine, no such subspecialty exists in dentistry. Adolescents are known to have unique health care related to the rapid growth and developmental changes they experience during their transition from being children to young adults. These needs are no less unique if not far more so when it comes to one’s dental and craniofacial health and wellness. Pediatric dentists are the most qualified dental providers to address their needs.